I am walking towards the science building when Adam appears next to me out of nowhere. He kisses me lightly and his warm breath reminds me of Chesterfields. It’s a taste I grew to love since I started dating him almost a year ago.

“How was it?” he asks, lighting a cigarette. I watch him twist the match in his calloused fingers, letting it burn all the way. As always, he misreads my curious gaze as impatient and quickly throws the charred remains in the fresh snow. He thinks I hate his habits and well-rehearsed patterns. But he’s wrong; I love everything about him. I’m certain we’re soul mates, halves of the same whole. I’m a fretting, nervous college junior who blames all her failures on ADD, he’s obsessed with details and applying logic to life. We complete each other perfectly. The fear of losing this, losing him, makes me hesitate, but I know I must be honest.

“Pretty bad,” I start. “Manic depression with anxiety attacks.”

Adam doesn’t say a word, he just hugs me. Next to his jacket, in his strong arms, I feel better. He makes everything better.

“They say that with the right meds it’s going to be fine. Plenty of people have some sort of problem like this, especially college students. You know, because of the stress.”

Adam nods slowly but I know he doesn’t understand. His life is one single, clear line with no time for such nonsense as anxiety or stressing out. It’s times like this that I feel we live on different planets. However, his lips on my forehead remind me he is there, close to me, no matter what. After a deep breath, I go on.

“The problem is that it could be schizophrenia.” The words are finally out and I suddenly feel distant and alone. It feels like a slow-paced movie I follow with mild interest. The words replay in my head and I analyze how natural they sound, you could never guess I cried the whole night.

“Damn,” Adam says. The sound of this single word breaks my solitude, and the strange feelings I had just seconds ago are gone. He doesn’t freak out, he doesn’t look at me with worried eyes. He says what I needed to hear, what I wanted to hear. Damn, that’s bad but don’t worry, we’ll stay together through whatever comes our way. I love him more than ever. “Anything they can do?” he finally adds.

“Not really. I have to deal with it on my own, pretty much. There’s a support group they want me to see and all that, but not much they can actually do. There’s no test for schizophrenia and until they’re sure…” I carry on with pointless diagnostic details. He nods and asks a question or two.

We start walking again and holding Adam’s hand I feel better than I have in weeks. He makes it all better. He is there for me and that is all that matters.

“Hey, it’s all good as long as you don’t start seeing weird people,” Adam says with a playful smile. I slap him and giggle. Somehow he always knows the right moment for a joke. We must be matching souls, part of one whole. It’s the only way to explain how he can read my mind so easily.

“Of course I don’t see any weird people,” I say, trying to ignore the fact that I am the only one who leaves tracks in the fresh snow.

Alex Moisiis a Romanian-born college student, living in Illinois and ignoring real life issues like angry friends and failing classes in favor of post-apocalyptic scenarios and disturbing “What if?”s. His work can be found in Residential Aliens, Bewildering Stories, the Desolate Places anthology published by Hadley Rille books and Strange Worlds of Lunacy published by Cyberwizard Publications as well as on his website www.dracken.co.nr.

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WITH LOVE FOREVER YOURS  by Alex Moisi, 3.9 out of 5 based on 164 ratings

It’s a very nice story, Alex. It’s interesting to see the ‘old’ terms used. Here in the USA the condition would be “bipolar disorder, schizoaffective tendencies” but there’s no real difference from “manic depression.” I’m pretty familiar with the whole thing because my wife has that condition.

Well done, Alex.
Adam would have probably been against taking meds, but the footprints in the snow was right on–she obviously maintains a bit of insight. If Manic-Depression is good enough for Jimi Hendrix–it’s good enough for me.

This is great. I really liked it. I don’t think the last line is bludgeoning – yes I’d worked it out just before but I think it comes across as reassurance (yes, you got it) not insistence (did you get it?).

Nicely written, nice dialogue. Like Gerard, I was thinking “Brilliant Mind” well before the ending, but the writing was so well done I didn’t mind. I especially like how Adam is not “perfect” – she’s had to learn to love his habits.

Liked the story, Alex! I thought you handled it well (I have to agree about the last line perhaps being a little too blunt though). The characters were great in such a small space; I liked the somewhat understated emotion.

I fell for this one hook, line and sinker. I didn’t see the end coming at all. As a person who constantly rationalizes with herself, I can completely put myself in the main characters shoes – knowing, deep down, that what you’re doing isn’t real, but doing it anyway because it’s easier than the truth. I love this story.

I love this story so much! What powerful words and imagery, the author here painted a perfect picture of the couple, where the were and all of the emotions involved. Excellent job Alex! My favorite line is “Iâ€™m certain weâ€™re soul mates, halves of the same whole.”

Sorry I didn’t respond when this was published in August and I was moving from New England to Jersey. Must say that it has remained in my mind over the months and I’ve gone back to reread it several times. It’s a truly beautiful story.

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